Sing-along versions of the film in cinemas have also helped boost the film's success.

"What is interesting is the speed at which it has gotten to this level," David Kosse, president of Universal Pictures International told industry paper Screen International.

"We are ahead of Harry Potter and continue to be ahead of Titanic at this stage, and we think it still has some life in it.

"One driver is the multiple viewings with people going back to see it again and again. It really is happening on a scale that we haven't seen before."

The three women who created the worldwide stage hit - producer Judy Craymer, writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd, repeated their roles in bringing the musical to the big screen in the British/US collaboration with Universal Pictures.

The rest of the top 10 highest-grossing British films in the UK is completed by the Harry Potter and Bridget Jones franchises, comedy The Full Monty and romantic comedy Love Actually.